Rhubarb

I’m not sure why we didn’t plant rhubarb years ago. Finally, though, we got around to purchasing some plants at the Farmers’ Market last Saturday. They were looking pretty puny sitting in their tiny plastic pots on the porch all week, and I knew that I really needed to get moving and get them in the ground.

So Friday after work, and after I cleaned the rabbits’ pans and clipped the dogs’ nails, I grabbed the hoe and the plants and went to the back yard. I worked up a strip of ground that one year was part of the garden and the next year was not (an area where Stephan and I had decided the rhubarb would go) and placed the three plants in the ground. Less than an hour later, the rain came, so that was pretty good timing, I thought.

The spot is on the east side of the house, which means the plants will get only morning sun, and I hope that’s all right for them. I heard rhubarb doesn’t care about sun and just wants lots of water; I heard that it does want sun and likes water but not too much; and I heard that it needs lots and lots of sun. I’m not sure what to think. The plastic marker in the pots said to plant in full sun, but in our tiny shady lot, that’s hard to find. So I hope morning sun will do the trick.

Maybe next year we can have some homemade rhubarb pie from our very own rhubarb. That would make me happy.

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About Karen Koch

I like the old-fashioned lifestyle. All this new-fangled stuff baffles me sometimes. I cherish living out in the country, raising chickens and rabbits, planting fruit trees, and enjoying a slow life filled with beautiful words and ideas.
I don't always achieve a slow life. I teach middle school English and manage a little burgeoning farm with my husband, and somewhere in the midst of that, I try to find time for writing, running, knitting, reading, and playing the ukulele. And sometimes, I actually succeed.

Rhubarb when it takes off is like a weed. It should do fine for you. Also some say that it is only in the early spring, but mine regrows every time I cut it. I often get three cuttings in one year. With three plants, you should have enough for the neighborhood in about two years.

Uncle Ed de Rosset had a mobile home which was set on a hill. One end was touching the ground and the other end was at least 4 ft. in the air. In that crawl space, which only received light (open shade) there were a number of rhubarb plants which grew voluntarily every year. The area was always humid, but never received direct sunlight.